In one of the craziest elections in American history, Barack Obama overcame a lack of experience, a funny name, two candidates who are political institutions and the racial divide to become the 44th President of the United States

Edmund Hillary, 1919-2008

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On May 29, 1953, Hillary, with the help of his Sherpa guide, became the first person to reach Earth's highest point. Standing atop the peak of Mount Everest, the New Zealand-born mountaineer beheld a view never before seen: "The whole world around us lay spread out like a giant relief map." It is a feat that has been achieved many times since but never with such resonance.